How to prepare your child for a sibling - Alina Reyzelman

How to prepare your child for a sibling

If you expect the second baby, you should prepare your child for this occasion. It is important to cultivate the relationship of your children before you give a birth to a child otherwise this can be a huge stress for him/her. For some reason, parents expect that older child should be happy about a new sibling not thinking about the change of lifestyle that follows. Your kid may not be happy about all that fuss around the new member of the family. Being the only child, such kids are in the center of attention. When this changes and other baby captures the attention, this can cause jealousy.

Children tend to be more protective when you prepare them for a sibling in advance. Here are some tips to help you with it:

  • It is important to inform the baby of a new child before you tell the news to your friends or relatives. The child should not learn about it from the aunt or somebody else. He can be baffled by it.
  • You never know how the child will react to the arrival of a new sibling. But you can reduce the negative reaction if you talk with your child about it. You can show the growing abdomen and explain everything in terms that are understandable for the kid.
  • Ask your child for assistance. Say that you need his help as you set up a nursery for a baby. In this way, your older child will feel needed. The more he is involved into preparation, the better he perceives it. You can pack the bag for the hospital together, thinking about the name for the baby and let the kid hear the baby’s heartbeat. Ask for advice when you buy clothes, toys and furniture to make him involved.
  • If you visit the family of your friends who have infants, your child will have better understanding of what to expect.
  • You should refer to a baby as “our baby”, or “your brother/sister”. It would be better for the child to feel the ownership. This brings more responsibility and reduces jealousy.
  • Reading books about childbirths can be helpful as well.
  • You’ll better know how to behave if you pursue the following goal: make your child feel important. Encourage him to help, saying how grateful you are for his assistance. The kid should know that you highly appreciate his help. Speak words of praise when your child contributes to preparation. If the one develops the sense of being valuable, it will remove many problems.
  • It can be helpful to introduce changes to the life of the kid before the child is born. In this way, he will not associate the changes with a baby.
  • When the child is born, your child should come to the hospital as soon as possible. They should feel that this is an intimate family event and they are a part of it all.
  • It would be great to spend time with your child when baby is sleeping to compensate lack of attention he probably feels. You need some quality time for being together when there is no baby beside. You can understand that something is wrong when the kid starts acting up. In this case, one-on-one time is very important.
  • Try to show more affection to your child, hug and kiss your kid frequently to keep the aura of love around him.